Is That All There Is

(Proverbs 5:20 KJV)  And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

Have you noticed the appeal of the exotic, or the imagined exotic.  Granted that often it is just a need to conform to what the “cool” people are doing.  It is often being the victim of advertising.  When the Volkswagen Beetle came out it was acknowledged as being an ugly creation.  That was part of its appeal.  The other part was that people thought it was cool.  Why do people spend thousands on a Rolex when a cheap Timex will keep time just as well?

There was a song in the sixties, “Is That All There Is”.  It is a song of desperation and futility.  It is a wonder to me why it did not start a revival in America because so many people are asking themselves that same question.  So we are warned against the “strange woman” (adulteress NASB) (2114a) and the “stranger” (foreigner NASB) (5237).  This could involve sexual sin but for most of us it is values and priorities that are antagonistic to the life of righteousness.

So?  Be alert to all the traps that are out in front of us.  Most are matters of gradual compromise.  A few are abrupt.  All can be avoided.  All must be avoided.